Jury in Prominent Down Under Murder Trial Visits Shoreline Where Deceased Was Discovered
Jurors involved in a high-profile Australian murder trial have traveled to the remote beach where the victim was located.
The 24-year-old victim was multiple times stabbed with a bladed weapon and placed in a sandy resting place with minimal hope of surviving, the court has been told.
Her body were discovered by her father the next day on Wangetti Beach – a section of shoreline nestled between the tourist centres of Cairns and Port Douglas.
The accused, 41, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Ms Cordingley on a weekend in October 2018 in Far North Queensland.
Court Inspection to Beach
The panel of 12 individuals plus several back-up jurors visited the location along with the presiding officer and legal counsel on Monday morning in Queensland.
In a nod to the hot climate and sweltering heat, the judge wore a T-shirt, sport shorts and trainers rather than traditional court attire.
Both the lead prosecution and defence barristers chose casual shirts, shorts and headwear.
Scene Details
The court members were led around 1.2km north up the sand to observe where Ms Cordingley's body were discovered.
Upon arrival, as they arrived by bus, several red and white cones indicated where the victim's car had been left.
The trip was intended to help the panel become acquainted with important sites in the case and no testimony was given.
Background of the Case
Previously, the Cairns Supreme Court was informed that the day after Ms Cordingley's body were found, Mr Singh flew from Australia to India – abandoning his wife, family and relatives.
He was out of contact until he was arrested years after, the prosecution said.
State Argument
It is alleged that the defendant, who was working as a nurse in the town of Innisfail, south of Cairns, had a confrontation with Ms Cordingley.
The pharmacy worker was discovered wearing a bikini, with all her other clothes and most of her possessions missing.
Those items were taken by the assailant to avoid detection, the prosecution allege.
Her dog, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had brought along for a stroll, was found secured to a post concealed in bushland about 30 metres from the grave.
No murder weapon was ever recovered, and no eyewitnesses have been found.
But the prosecution says the evidence – though indirect – was comprised proof that pointed to Mr Singh "excluding other suspects."
This will involve testimony that genetic material recovered from a stick at the location was extremely more likely to have come from Mr Singh than a random member of the population.
The court has already heard testimony indicating that Ms Cordingley's phone departed the beach after the incident – and that its travel matched those of a vehicle owned by the accused.
Mr Singh's quick exit from Australia also pointed to his involvement, the prosecution has claimed.
Defence Stance
"While authorities were discovering Toyah's body, he was organizing... a hurriedly arranged single journey back to India," Mr Crane said previously as he opened his case.
The defense is yet to provided testimony, but in his initial statement, Mr Singh's barrister Greg McGuire portrayed his client as a "calm" and "caring" man, who was in the "wrong place at the unfortunate moment."
He also hinted at testimony to come later in the trial that, after his arrest, Mr Singh informed an undercover officer he had witnessed two masked men attack Ms Cordingley and then had run away in terror – something he said was his "gravest error."
Mr McGuire has also said he will testify about other people "identified and unidentified" who should come under investigation.
Additional Evidence
Ms Cordingley's partner, Marco Heidenreich, whom authorities quickly ruled out as a person of interest, was one who testified last week.
The court heard he was an initial police suspect – and that he had faced questions from Ms Cordingley's father about whether he was implicated in his girlfriend's vanishing, prior to her body were found.
Photographs depicting Mr Heidenreich on a hike with a companion on the day Ms Cordingley went missing have been shown to the jury, with an expert saying he was confident the photos were genuine and had not been altered in any manner.
The trial will return to the more conventional setting of the courthouse on the next day.
